Network Working Group B. Wijnen
Request for Comments: 3595 Lucent Technologies
Category: Standards Track September 2003
Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This MIB module defines textual conventions to represent the commonly
used IPv6 Flow Label. The intent is that these textual conventions
(TCs) will be imported and used in MIB modules that would otherwise
define their own representations.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. The Internet-Standard Management Framework . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. Intellectual Property Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
8. Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
9. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Wijnen Standards Track [Page 1]RFC 3595 Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label September 2003
1. Introduction
Several standards-track MIB modules have defined objects to represent
an IPv6 Flow Label (sometimes referred to as Flow ID) [RFC2460]
[FLOWLABEL] and IPv6 Flow Label filters. Unfortunately the result is
a set of different definitions for the same piece of management
information. This may lead to confusion and unnecessary complexity.
This document defines a set of textual conventions (TCs) that can and
should be (re-)used in MIB modules, so that they all represent an
IPv6 Flow Label in the same way. In fact, PIB modules can and should
also use these TCs when they need to represent an IPv6 Flow label.
2. The Internet-Standard Management Framework
For a detailed overview of the documents that describe the current
Internet-Standard Management Framework, please refer to section 7 of
RFC 3410 [RFC3410].
Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
the Management Information Base or MIB. MIB objects are generally
accessed through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
Objects in the MIB are defined using the mechanisms defined in the
Structure of Management Information (SMI). This memo specifies a MIB
module that is compliant to the SMIv2, which is described in STD 58,
RFC 2578 [RFC2578], STD 58, RFC 2579 [RFC2579] and STD 58, RFC 2580
[RFC2580].
3. Definitions
IPV6-FLOW-LABEL-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN
IMPORTS
MODULE-IDENTITY, mib-2, Integer32 FROM SNMPv2-SMI
TEXTUAL-CONVENTION FROM SNMPv2-TC;
ipv6FlowLabelMIB MODULE-IDENTITY
LAST-UPDATED "200308280000Z" -- 28 August 2003
ORGANIZATION "IETF Operations and Management Area"
CONTACT-INFO "Bert Wijnen (Editor)
Lucent Technologies
Schagen 33
3461 GL Linschoten
Netherlands
Wijnen Standards Track [Page 2]RFC 3595 Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label September 2003
Phone: +31 348-407-775
EMail: bwijnen@lucent.com
Send comments to <mibs@ops.ietf.org>.
"
DESCRIPTION "This MIB module provides commonly used textual
conventions for IPv6 Flow Labels.
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). This
version of this MIB module is part of RFC 3595,
see the RFC itself for full legal notices.
"
-- Revision History
REVISION "200308280000Z" -- 28 August 2003
DESCRIPTION "Initial version, published as RFC 3595."
::= { mib-2 103 }
IPv6FlowLabel ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
DISPLAY-HINT "d"
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION "The flow identifier or Flow Label in an IPv6
packet header that may be used to discriminate
traffic flows.
"
REFERENCE "Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) specification,
section 6. RFC 2460.
"
SYNTAX Integer32 (0..1048575)
IPv6FlowLabelOrAny ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
DISPLAY-HINT "d"
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION "The flow identifier or Flow Label in an IPv6
packet header that may be used to discriminate
traffic flows. The value of -1 is used to
indicate a wildcard, i.e. any value.
"
SYNTAX Integer32 (-1 | 0..1048575)
END
Wijnen Standards Track [Page 3]RFC 3595 Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label September 2003
4. Security Considerations
The MIB module contained in this memo does not define any management
objects. Instead, it defines a set of textual conventions which may
be used by other MIB modules to define management objects.
Meaningful security considerations can only be written for MIB
modules that define concrete management objects. This document has
therefore no impact on the security of the Internet.
5. Intellectual Property Statement
The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to
pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it
has made any effort to identify any such rights. Information on the
IETF's procedures with respect to rights in standards-track and
standards-related documentation can be found in BCP-11. Copies of
claims of rights made available for publication and any assurances of
licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to
obtain a general license or permission for the use of such
proprietary rights by implementors or users of this specification can
be obtained from the IETF Secretariat.
The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
rights which may cover technology that may be required to practice
this standard. Please address the information to the IETF Executive
Director.
6. References
6.1. Normative References
[RFC2460] Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
(IPv6) Specification", RFC 2460, December 1998.
[RFC2578] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D. and Schoenwaelder, "Structure
of Management Information Version 2 (SMIv2)", STD 58, RFC
2578, April 1999.
[RFC2579] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D. and J. Schoenwaelder,"Textual
Conventions for SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2579, April 1999.
Wijnen Standards Track [Page 4]RFC 3595 Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label September 2003
[RFC2580] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D. and J. Schoenwaelder,
"Conformance Statements for SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2580,
April 1999.
6.2. Informative References
[FLOWLABEL] Carpenter, B., Conta, A., Deering, S. and J. Rajahalme,
"IPv6 Flow Label Specification", Work in Progress.
[RFC3410] Case, J., Mundy, R., Partain, D. and B. Stewart,
"Introduction and Applicability Statements for Internet-
Standard Management Framework", RFC 3410, December 2002.
7. Acknowledgments
This document was produced as a result of a review of the use of
FlowID in a PIB module and a MIB module. Further investigation found
that FlowID and FlowLabel objects were defined in a few other MIB
modules. The editor would like to thank all who contributed to the
discussion that resulted in this document, particularly Juergen
Schoenwaelder for finding and reporting most of the other MIB modules
that were using/defining a FlowLabel object. Juergen also suggested
the very first direction for a common TC for these objects. Further
contributions were received from Fred Baker, Dan Romascanu, Kwok Ho
Chan, Margaret Wasserman, Brian Carpenter, Andy Bierman, Randy
Presuhn, Branislav Meandzija, Brian Williams, Ravi Sahita. We also
received initial input from 3GPP that expressed the requirement to be
able to specify a wildcard for FlowID or FlowLabel. Further helpful
review comments were received from Brian Carpenter, John Loughney,
Pekka Savola.
8. Author's Address
Bert Wijnen
Lucent Technologies
Schagen 33
3461 GL Linschoten
Netherlands
Phone: +31-348-407-775
EMail: bwijnen@lucent.com
Wijnen Standards Track [Page 5]RFC 3595 Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label September 2003
9. Full Copyright Statement
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
English.
The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assignees.
This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
"AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Acknowledgement
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
Internet Society.
Wijnen Standards Track [Page 6]
